With Untouchability, Aamir Returns to Familiar Turf

Aamir Khan's 'Satyamev Jayate' is already into its 10th episode of the total 13 episodes in this season and the television ratings have taken a dip.

On Sunday, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan returned to territory where his Oprah Winfrey-inspired show has fared well during its opening season: practices which no right-minded person would not condemn.

This weekend, Mr. Khan’s team took on the age-old issue of caste in India. Many urban dwellers would think the issue was long dead in the 21st Century, a time when India is making strides to become a global power.

But Mr. Khan, during the two-hour episode, showed that caste prejudice is alive and well – and not just in forgotten rural areas.

It’s good to see the Bollywood star back dealing with these kind of issues. Earlier shows in the series, such as those touching on female feticide and child abuse, were equally successful.

One may quibble with the high-drama style of the show, which is designed to make audiences cry. But it’s undoubted this kind of format is bringing topics to the fore that might otherwise be shoved under the carpet.

Where Mr. Khan has been much less astute in the opening season of the show, which is called “Satyamev Jayate,” or “Truth Alone Prevails,” is when he’s dealt with debates that require larger shadings of grey.

The episodes on the use of pesticides and medical malpractice caused criticism for adopting a simplistic tone on issues of complexity.

In the pesticides show, in particular, Mr. Khan’s team attempted to vilify producers and deify green groups that oppose their use. The problem here was the show did a poor job of marshalling any research to back up its claims.

When discussing untouchability, though, no such research is needed. It’s clearly bad and the show’s format – getting people to chat with Mr. Khan about their experiences, spliced together with segments of reportage - makes for feel-good television.

Many are already calling him the “hero of Indian television.” “What emerges from their stories is a creeping horror, a vision of modern India that is stark and deeply unsettling,” wrote Indian author Aatish Taseer this weekend in a column in The Wall Street Journal. “Mr. Khan’s style is wry and laid back, but occasionally the stories are too much for him, and his eyes well with tears.”

Sunday’s episode featured Kaushal Panwar, a PhD in Sanskrit from a Dalit family, who faced discrimination in school and not allowed to drink water from the same clay pot as kids from higher castes. Another participant, P.L. Punia, chairman of the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes, told how he was barred from entering a temple in Orrisa.

Some say the show’s emphasis on social justice makes up for its shortcomings. But critics retort that it is heavy on rhetoric and lures viewers in with too-good-to-be-true solutions.

In the end, it’s good television. But is it making a difference? “Satyamev Jayate” is already into its 10th episode of the total 13 episodes this season and television ratings have taken a dip. The show’s aims is to raise money for NGOs, but donations have so far also been disappointing.